A new report claims that Microsoft is preparing to unleash Kinect Play Fit, an exercise tracker that will work across various Kinect applications...

Feature

Why Zelda Still Rules the Action RPG

The Legend of Zelda games may not be perfect, but they still define the genre.

By: Jeremy Parish May 8, 2012

1UP, we confess, has not been the kindest friend to the Legend of Zelda series of late. In fact, one might even assume that we have some sort of dark agenda against the games. That we're out to perform a cruel hit job. To poison the shape of public discourse about Nintendo's work and undermine the very foundations of the franchise by eroding the world's affection for and confidence in Zelda!

But let's not be silly. We've had some critical words for Zelda over the past few months, it's true, but those criticisms come from precisely the opposite place of whatever grim land of hatred Zelda's more ardent defenders may have concocted in their minds. We tend to put Zelda under harsh scrutiny not because we want to trash it but rather because we love it. Bob Mackey won't shut up about how Majora's Mask is probably the greatest game ever to spring from human minds, and I can bore you with hours of nonstop reminiscence about my experiences with the original NES game. We love Zelda, and we want it to be wonderful. Sometimes it falls short of our expectations; and sometimes in the process of starting up a conversation about these things, you have to play the role of devil's advocate, and then people misinterpret your opinion as being a lot more negative than it really is.

Gaming can be an expensive hobby, particularly if you're keen on picking up games as they are released. With your typical console game going for $60 at launch and there being no shortage of quality titles to play, those costs can quickly add up, making it difficult to keep up with the latest releases. But there are more factors than merely price which can make gamers hesitant to buy games when they first come out including a perceived lack of value, eventual complete/Game of the Year edition releases, and patches which make games into better experiences for those who opt against rushing out to a midnight launch.

Majesco has announced a new basketball game for Xbox 360 today that doesn't have to worry about competing with the latest NBA 2K game, and not because it uses Kinect. NBA Baller Beats is a sort of hybrid rhythm/basketball training game that has you bouncing a real-life basketball in front of your television set. It sounds very gimmicky, and in this day and age there may not be much of a place for that sort of thing anymore.

Chances are good you picked up a copy of Blizzard's latest productivity-killer, Diablo 3. Chances are even better you've resisted the urge of throwing your mouse out the window upon seeing the dreaded "Error 37" message. And who can blame you? Many have waited 12 years to click the hours away, and n...

Gaming can be an expensive hobby, particularly if you're keen on picking up games as they are released. With your typical console game going for $60 at launch and there being no shortage of quality titles to play, those costs can quickly add up, making it difficult to keep up with the latest releases. But there are more factors than merely price which can make gamers hesitant to buy games when they first come out including a perceived lack of value, eventual complete/Game of the Year edition releases, and patches which make games into better experiences for those who opt against rushing out to a midnight launch.

Gaming is rapidly changing. Whether we're talking about things becoming more digital or new business models or whatever else, the industry already looks a great deal different than it did 10 or 20 years ago and that's only going to continue in the coming decades.

As with anything in entertainment that changes, people are going to yearn for the way things used to be (while also worrying about what the future will bring). For me, one of the things I miss most is the sort of manuals games used to come with. What I looked forward to most when first buying a new game, regardless of what it was, was opening the box up and flipping through the manual before actually trying the game out. And I'm not just talking about spending time devouring the pages of a manual (or whatever other paperwork a PC game would come with -- keyboard shortcut cards, tech trees, etc. -- as it installs); console and handheld game manuals had to be read cover to cover before the game went into the system. This wasn't a matter of preparing for games with no tutorials, as I treated those with in-game instructions no differently. I specifically remember reading the entire manual for Mario Party 2 -- Mario Party 2 -- before I would even stick the cart in my Nintendo 64.

Electronic Arts is the winner (loser?) of The Consumerist's annual Worst Company in America tournament this year. Following a round of nominations and weeks of head-to-head, March Madness-style voting, the Redwood City, California-based videogame publisher was named the top vote-getter in the finals today in which it was squaring off against Bank of America.

After seven years of sitting on the sidelines, Mario and crew are once again dusting off the ole racket for a brand new tennis outing from the developers at Camelot. We already got the chance to check out the online multiplayer and special mini-games, as well as get used to the new controls with the game's debut at this year's Game Developer's Conference. Now that we finally have the full retail version in the office, and have spent the weekend brushing up on our tennis skills...